Page 341 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 334

‘Warmth and softness have always been better than strength and hardness’ says the
Chinese proverb. From the life-cycle of the human being – soft and weak at birth, hard
and stiff at death – Lao-zi deduced that the weak and soft are related to life, in a different
way from the way the hard and strong are. Brothels are often described as ‘lands of
warmth and softness’ (wen rou xiang).
Son Son

zi

The dearest wish of every Chinese has always been to have a son, and this remains true
even today. State ‘family planning’ requires parents to have not more than one child; and
something of a crisis does ensue if this child turns out to be a girl. Whatever state
legislation has to say on the subject of equality of the sexes, it remains a fact that a son is
more valued than a daughter.
The Chinese word zi does not always mean ‘son’. Affixed to a family
name it means something like ‘master’; e.g. Kong-zi = Master Kong =
Confucius. A cultured young man of outstanding gifts is often called a cai-
zi. One might expect zi-di to mean ‘sons and younger brothers’ (the literal
translation), but in fact it refers to gentlemen who visit brothels. Thus the
roué cai-zi has his female counterpart, the beautiful jia-ren.
SoulSoul

hun; po

The Chinese believe that two souls inhabit the human body. One of these – the po – is the
sentient or animal soul which gives life to the human being. This soul lingers at the grave
of the deceased for some time, and if the funeral arrangements have not been entirely as
they should be, the po can cause a lot of trouble even to its own erstwhile relatives: it is
essentially animal-like and fails to recognise them.
The other soul (hun) confers personality on human beings. It lives for a long time after
death and is much concerned about those it leaves behind – on condition that they make
proper sacrifice to it. If this duty is neglected, the hun is driven by hunger to steal
sacrificial